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Evolving Traditions of The Buddhist Image House. Part 1: Understanding Two Centuries of Art and Architecture in Sri Lanka

 
Asoka De Zoysa (Author) Vajira Nalinda Jayathilaka (Author) Ganga Rajinee Dissanayaka (Author)
Synopsis

Beginning with images from Buddhist temples of Sri Lanka, this book takes the reader through a visual journey from the times of the last kings of Kandy to the early years of independence. The images of murals, statues, architecture, interior design and calligraphy are placed in the context of social and political changes taking place in a small island that was totally dominated by colonial powers in the 19thcentury, later to be liberated from Western influence in 1948.

This study of Buddhist Image Houses is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Senake Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka's greatest art historian and archaeologist in recent times. The brown leather bound book he holds poses the biggest problem. It seems to be a kind of diary, because the Roman script indicates that it is a Denapota, a diary. The correct pronunciation in Sinhala that would be Dinapotha is written using the Dēvanagarī script. The spine too written in Dēvanagarī too. It can be read as “me potha” translated from Sinhala to English as “this book” bearing the date 1827.

How Sri Lankan culture oscillates between the Western and Indian concepts is a key theme of this book.

This publication includes a study conducted by Professor Asoka de Zoysa on the iconography in the history of art and sculpture with a special emphasis on the Southern Province, research conducted by Dr. Nalinda Jayathilake on the changes in artistic styles and tastes from the Kandyan Period to the Colonial Period and a study conducted by Ganga Rajini Disanayake on the Kandyan Period and Post Kandyan Art.

Advancing from the Anuradhapura Period, Buddhist art evolved with art, sculpture and engravings due to several reasons including sociopolitical aspects. This publication is a result of a study conducted during the course of three years, investigating and reviewing nearly 300 temples and other religious buildings identifying various hidden artists, masons, engravers and carpenters and studying their artistic traditions.

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About the authors

Asoka De Zoysa

Asoka de Zoysa had his training at the Institut für indische Philologie and Kunstgeschichte, Berlin to read Sanskrit, Pali and hybrid-Hindi texts and interpret the art of India and the Himalayan region. His doctoral thesis Blutrünstige Braminen am heiligen Strome (1997) published in Frankfurt, analyses how India was represented in the 18th and 19th century popular genres of opera and theater of Germany, France and England. After his MA in Indology and Germanisitik he was a member of the Educational Service at Museum für Indische Kunst in Berlin, arranging guided tours and lectures in the Museum of Indian Art. Since 1997 he is a member of the faculty at the Department of Modern Languages and now professor in charge of German Studies. He is interested in gender aspects in contemporary art, theater, fashion, advertising, cinema and literature and has translated German plays to Sinhala and English, some which he directed himself. His current research interests are centered around the Buddhist Temple. He writes regular reviews to newspapers on the performances and exhibitions. He is also visiting lecturer at the University of Visual and Performing Arts and consultant at the Academy of Design Colombo.

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Vajira Nalinda Jayathilaka

Vajira Nalinda Jayathilaka is an artist, graphic designer and art historian. After his post graduate studies at the University of Kelaniya, he was member of the inaugural teaching faculty of the Visual and Performing Arts Unit at Kelaniya. Since 2010, he is lecturer of the Department of History & Art Theory, Faculty of Visual Arts, in the University of Visual and Performing Arts, Sri Lanka delivering course units in Sri Lankan folk art and modern and contemporary art. Since some years he has been engaged in copying and photographing Buddhist murals and decorative designs. His research interests contextualizes the heritage of Sri Lankan art in Cultural Studies and Post-Modern Theories.

Vajira has completed his first degree in Fine Arts with First Class Honors in University of Kelaniya. He received a PhD scholarship from the World Bank funded HETC Project at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Kelania to complete his PhD on Discourse Communities related to the Buddhist temples.

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Bibliographic information

Title Evolving Traditions of The Buddhist Image House. Part 1: Understanding Two Centuries of Art and Architecture in Sri Lanka
Format Hardcover
Date published: 01.05.2018
Edition 1st ed.
Language: English
length 235p., Illustrations Black and White and Colour; 25x36cm.